Netherlands vs England: Virgil van Dijk will be delighted if Harry Kane starts, Tony Cascarino believes

Netherlands vs England: Virgil van Dijk will be delighted if Harry Kane starts, Tony Cascarino believes
Tony Cascarino insists Harry Kane should not start for England against the Netherlands on Thursday – because Virgil van Dijk would have a field day.The two players meet again when their countries go head-to-head in the semi-final of the Nations League, just five days after Liverpool beat Tottenham 2-0 in the Champions League final.Getty Images - Getty1

Van Dijk won his battle with Kane quite comfortably in Madrid

Kane was underwhelming on his return from injury in Madrid, failing to escape the close attention of Van Dijk, who was imperious once again.And Cascarino, writing in his column for the Times, says Van Dijk would be delighted if Kane starts again in Portugal. “Kane was way off the pace and had no impact,” he said.“It would have been crazy to leave out [Lucas] Moura, who scored a hat-trick in the semi-final, for Kane even if he had been fully fit, which he wasnt.

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“It will be very interesting to see whether Gareth Southgate starts Kane in the Nations League semi-final on Thursday, especially as he will be up against Van Dijk again.“Van Dijk will be thinking that he could have another easy night if Kane starts for England.”Van Dijk was so good across the season that former Liverpool winger John Barnes thinks he deserves to win the Ballon d’Or.Speaking to talkSPORT, he said: Normally when you look at the Ballon dOr winners, theyre either attacking midfield players or centre-forwards. They are goalscorers and eye-catching players.But there havent been any of those types of players who have really set the world alight this season.So from a point of consistency and from a point of success, for me Van Dijk would have to be the man.

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